cyberval's Profile

Sorry, I am underwhelmed by this house. It looks like cookie cutter scandi-style that appears in multiple european publications. Perhaps it looks fresh to the american eye, but if you look at european publications houses decorated like this are two a penny.

I am the only one who thinks this bleached-out scandi-look is getting rather old? Ditto with the straight vanilla mid-century look.

One thing we should all learn from this Flor photo shoot - nothing in real life looks as good as when it is arranged by a professional stylist and photographed by a professional photographer. That includes shoots of people too, except they have additional help from photoshop.

There seems to be some support for bookshelves in the recesses. I don't agree because the recesses are very narrow. I think the horizontal lines of bookshelves will fight with the vertical lines of the mouldings. Besides, you really wouldn't be able to fit that many books here and it would make the whole area look very busy.

The mouldings themselves look far more linear than the average older home mouldings. I would not obscure them with lots of stuff.

If you put sconces in the recesses, you can match the metal of the sconce to a fire screen that would lighten up the fireplace. That together with art or mirror over the fireplace and perhaps a couple of objects on the mantelpiece would be enough on that wall.

If, on the other hand, you want to de-emphasise the mouldings, you could paint them out by painting them the same color chosen for the walls. I think that would be a pity, but some people like that look.

Most period houses did hang a mirror over the fireplace. One would look fine there. You don't have to use a traditional mirror, you could go modern. If you did that, how about putting a modern sconce in each recessed area? Alternatively you could hang a large piece of art, lit by a picture light.

One thing, I would paint the walls a mid-tone tending towards dark. You have a lot of white moulding to lift it. At the moment, the black marble fireplace is too much of a contrast and looks like a black hole. A darker color would balance it more.

AWEGWEISER said Who says crime does not pay? Put in a little prison time for a felony and you too can be paid $38.5 Mil for a whopping 16.5% piece of your business. Might have been fun to listen in on the negotiations for that deal.

I was never a Martha Stewart fan but have to agree with the Wall Street Journal, hardly a bastion of liberalism, who were highly critical of the government's prosecution. Many many people are convinced that the whole debacle was a politically motivated exercise by Bush cronies because Martha had the nerve to give financial support to the Democrats.

I have never bought anything designed by Martha Stewart but when she was designing furniture for Bernhardt I noticed she received very favorable press from other designers and from the design media. We shall just have to wait and see what transpires from this deal.

Cashmere should actually be hand-washed. A dry cleaner in my neighborhood had a big notice warning customers that dry cleaning can cause bobbles on cashmere.

Most knitted woolens should be hand washed. Shrinking seems to be related to too hot water and also the drying. If it takes too long to dry, the sweater may shrink.

Watch out for printed rayon or silk. Some is OK, some not and you have no way of knowing in advance. You only find out when the pattern runs all over the place. Silk can also have a lot of dressing in it which seems to wash out and leaves the fabric really limp and without body.

Never, ever, try to wash clothes made from woven wool unless the fabric is sold as washable. It can felt, shrink and end up a mangled mess.

Any clothing with a lining shouldn't be washed either because as someone has already pointed out the different fabric may well respond differently to the washing (one may shrink, the other not).

You can tell I have attempted to wash many things over the years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not! Just remember, if the label says Dry Clean, you have no recourse if washing destroys anything.

Doesn't this depend on the age of the house? I can see it in a victorian house but that is about it. I much prefer chrome myself.

Even if more people were tempted to use a decorator, I think the question of cost is an issue together with a fear that you will end up with a "look" someone wants to give you rather than something that is "you". As far as cost goes it appears that many decorators are not transparent about how they make their money. Even the services that claim to have a reasonable cost don't seem budget friendly to many. Designers claim they have a lot of training but many people have a lot of training and do not expect to bill themselves at an exaggerated hourly rate. If a decorator could give an option of services at a reasonable rate and then offer a discount on purchases, perhaps they would get more business.

I have a friend who used an interior designer (qualified and licensed) and she was generally happy with the results. However, there were some problems which she found extremely frustrating. The designer presented her with several choices for each of her projects which were well chosen and to my friend's taste. What was not done, despite being requested several times, was the addition of a price tag for each item. My friend was not looking for the cheapest option but wanted to truly compare the options.

The unexpected fabric choice makes the chair really stand out. This looks interesting and fresh.

What is wrong with people who insist that you cannot rework a design knock-off? Presumably these are the same people who have conniptions every time someone gives a third rate danish modernish piece of furniture a coat of paint.

Why bother showing them now when they are not apparently available for purchase yet.